Wandsworth Borough Council Gets Top Rating

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Audit: Top quality services and still 'improving strongly'

Wandsworth has again been named as one of the best  performing councils in the country and continues to "improve strongly" according to local government watchdogs.

The Audit Commission has today named Wandsworth as one of the country’s elite councils for the sixth year running. It awarded the town hall the maximum four-star performance rating for the quality of its services and judged it to be still "improving strongly".

Overall Wandsworth is one of only four councils in England and Wales – and one of only two in London - to have successfully achieved both a four star rating and been judged to be "improving strongly" for each of the past three years.

And today's announcement comes just a few days after the commission also named Wandsworth as one of only two councils in the country to have scored maximum marks in "value for money", "financial management" and "use of rescources" assessments.

In its overall conclusions about the council's performance the Audit Commission found:

 

• Wandsworth Council is improving strongly. Two-thirds of indicators improved in 2006/07 from an already high base.

• Significant improvement in primary school results puts Wandsworth as one of the top improving authorities nationally. 

• Improvements in waste collection, recycling, street cleansing, waiting times for care assessments and housing benefit services has led to increased resident satisfaction.

• Contributions to wider community outcomes are strong and recognised by local people. Crime levels overall continue to reduce with anti-social behaviour initiatives resulting in a reduction in fear of crime. 

• Strong performance in reducing carbon and car usage has seen one in four people using their car less frequently.

• Just under 90 per cent of children, the third highest in the country, participate in two hours of physical activity per week.

• The successful Hidden Homes initiative is increasing the supply of affordable homes.

• The Council continues to provide excellent value for money. Leadership is focused sharply on continuous improvement and plans are informed by comprehensive needs analysis. Its highly effective financial and performance framework puts the Council well placed to sustain its strong improvement record and deliver future improvements.

 

Last week's announcement that Wandsworth had achieved a perfect score for its use of resources and for providing value for money, came following a detailed investigation into the financial management of 386 town halls in England and Wales. Wandsworth was joined by only Stockton-on Tees in achieving the highest possible marks in all five measures of performance.

But in a real value for money test Wandsworth is in a class of its own. Its residents pay around half the amount of council tax levied in Stockton-on-Tees.

Wandsworth’s Band D bills are currently £681- the lowest in the UK. This total also includes the £304 levied from residents by the Mayor Ken Livingstone and the Greater London Authority. In contrast, Band D payers in Stockton-on-Tees pay their town hall around £1,330, even though residents there do not pay for a similar second tier of regional Government.    

Council leader Edward Lister said:

"Once again Wandsworth has been ranked as one of a small handful of authorities that really stand out for the top quality of their services. The fact that Wandsworth manages to consistently deliver such high quality services for around half the amount of council tax levied by most other top performing town halls really does set us in a class of our own.

"And local people can rest assured that we will not rest on our laurels. We will continue to look at new ways of providing the country’s best quality services at the best value for money prices. The Audit Commission says Wandsworth is 'improving strongly'. They are quite right."

The Audit Commission is an independent body responsible for ensuring that public money is  spent economically, efficiently and effectively, to achieve high-quality local services for the public. Its remit covers around 11,000 bodies in England, which between them spend more than £180 billion of public money each year.

Its Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA) looks at how efficiently councils are run; the quality and delivery of services provided across a range of areas, including housing, care for the elderly, education and recycling; and whether those services are delivering value for money for the taxpayer.

The overall rating given to town halls pulls together the results of a range of different  assessments carried out by the Audit Commission and other statutory watchdogs, including Ofsted, the Commission for Social Care Inspection and the Benefit Fraud Inspectorate.

February 12, 2008